‘Baywatch’ ex MP Leslie in the swim with Sheikh
ShE once stunned colleagues at Westminster by posing in the same red ‘Baywatch’ swimsuit that she’d last worn 15 years earlier while on lifeguard duty at Bude beach in north cornwall.
But former Tory MP charlotte leslie has arguably made her most daring move yet.
leslie, who lost her seat in the 2017 election, has, i can disclose, agreed to become one of only two honorary patrons of the Zay initiative, a cultural charity.
her fellow honorary patron is Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak al Nahyan, who was at the centre of a diplomatic storm last year after being accused of groping and assaulting a 32-year-old British woman, caitlin McNamara, at a private island villa in abu Dhabi.
Sheikh Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance & coexistence in the United arab Emirates, steadfastly rejected McNamara’s allegation, issuing a statement saying that he was ‘surprised and saddened’ by it, and noting that it was made ‘eight months after the alleged incident and via a national newspaper’.
The redoubtable leslie, a onetime boxing enthusiast as well as an outstanding swimmer who reached the national backstroke finals, says that she is not in any position to comment on the matter.
‘My involvement with the charity pre-dates any reporting of the story you mention,’ she tells me. ‘i was asked to be honorary patron by the charity’s founder, Dr reem El Mutwalli.
‘i took on the role to support the excellent work done by the charity to preserve the cultural heritage of the Middle East.’
and, lest anyone leap to entirely the wrong conclusion, leslie, 42, who is now Director of the conservative Middle East council, emphasises that she receives no pecuniary advantage from her new honorary role, which is for a fixed term of three years.
‘The position is unpaid,’ she confirms, adding that there are no perks, such as expensespaid travel. ‘The charity is based in the UK.’